CANON 14: OF RESIGNATION OF DIOCESAN BISHOPS Amended at Provincial Synod 2021 Method of Resignation (a )If a Diocesan Bishop shall desire to resign the See or to retire therefrom, whether immediately or from a certain future date (the decision thereon being irrevocable), the Bishop shall send the resignationto the Metropolitan in writing or, if the Bishop is the Metropolitan, to the Dean of the Province. The majority of the Diocesan Bishops shall judge whether the resignation shall be accepted. (b) The provisions of section l (a) of this Canon shall not apply when a Diocesan Bishop is elected as Bishop of another Diocese or so appointed by a delegationmade in terms of section 12(v) of Canon 4 Of the Election of Bishops. Mandate to be issued Upon acceptance of the resignation as aforesaid, the Metropolitan (or in the Metropolitan’s absence the Dean of the Province) shall forthwith proceed in terms of section 8 of Canon 4 of the Election of Bishops to issue the mandate. The Bishop tendering the resignation shall be ineligible to be a member of the Advisory Committee and the Elective Assembly when convened to consider the election of the Bishop’s successor. Compulsory Resignationof Bishops A Diocesan Bishop may, upon the representation to the Metropolitan (and the Synod of Bishops) of at least three Diocesan Bishops, be asked, or if necessary, required to resign the See. Such a decision can only be considered after giving the aforementioned Diocesan Bishop an adequate opportunity to respond to the representation of the three Bishops. After the representation by the three Bishops and the response of the Diocesan Bishop has been received by the Metropolitan and the Synod of Bishops, in the presence of the Provincial Chancellor and Registrar (or failing them, their Deputies), it is the decided opinion of two-thirds of the Diocesan Bishops that such Bishop is no longer able to discharge adequately the duties of the office; provided – (a) that no action shall be taken unless both the Chancellor and the Registrar (or their Deputies as the case may be) concur that the decision in their opinion is correct in terms of the canon law and any other law or legal principle that may apply to the facts; (b) that the Bishop shall cease to function as Bishop from the date of the decision of two thirds of the Diocesan Bishops referred to in this section and shall, conditional on proviso (c) below failing to identify another ministry, move the Bishop’s household from any Diocesan accommodation within three months of the decision of the Synod of Bishops; and (c) that the Synod of Bishops or the Metropolitan and Metropolitan’s Executive shall try to seek, in consultation with the Bishop concerned, another suitable stipendiary ministry within the Province within the three month period referred to in proviso (b). (d) However, if it appears to the Metropolitan, after consultation with the Metropolitan’s Executive, either before embarking on or during this process that the reason or one of the reasons giving rise to the resignationis in fact related mainly or substantially to matters which could constitute a charge or accusation in terms of Canon 37.1, then in the absence of any charge under Canon 37.1, the Metropolitan in consultation with the Metropolitan’s Executive shall proceed in Terms of Canon 38, in respect of those matters and, in respect of any balance of issues that remain, may continue with the consideration of the Diocesan Bishop’s ability to discharge adequately the duties of the office. Retirement of bishops (a) Diocesan Bishops shall, at the end of the month in which they attain the normal retirement age as defined in the Rules of the relevant Provincial Pension Fund, resign from their Sees by tendering their resignation to the Metropolitan, which the Metropolitan must accept. (b) If a Diocesan Bishop requests any extension of tenure, the Metropolitan, after consultation with the Metropolitan’s Executive, Diocesan Chapter, Diocesan Council (howsoever known) and the Diocesan Trusts Board and Finance Board (if separate), with the Diocesan Bishop recused from all these consultations, may extend the Bishop’s tenure for a further period or periods not exceeding 12 months in each instance. (c)(i) The Metropolitan’s resignation shall be tendered to the Synod of Bishops, which the Synod must accept. (ii) If the Metropolitan requests an extension of tenure, the Synod may, after consultation with the Diocesan Standing Committee of the Diocese of Cape Town, the Metropolitan’s Executive members and the Provincial Finance Board (the Metropolitan to be recused from all these consultations), extend the tenure for a further period not exceeding 12 months in each instance. (d) These provisions will not apply to Diocesan Bishops or the Metropolitan in office on 27 September 2016, to whom the provisions of Canon 14(3) as they were at that date shall apply. Of Metropolitan The functions assigned to the Metropolitan in the above section of this Canon shall, in the event of the Metropolitan coming under its provisions, be exercised by the Dean of the Province.
